"Shady Bizzness: " Life as Eminem's Bodyguard in an Industry of Paper Gangsters" (20 page)

People often ask me, “What happened after the book went public?”
Plenty! The behind-the-scene drama was better than the book.The media
went crazy with this “tell all” by lifting up then tearing down a “disgruntled
employee. ” If I was disgruntled, I would have went out like a US Postal
worker! There were media scams and attempted bootlegging by a certain
weekly entertainment magazine. This particular magazine was scheduled
to do a review and allegedly sold copies to Eminem and Paul. There’s no
doubt in my mind that they leaked the material, because absolutely no
one else had the draft. I received further confirmation from two New York
sources that were outside the Eminem camp that had copies of the partial
book. One was a law student, and the other was DT. They read aloud to
me my material verbatim.

Needless to say, I was pissed! I was pissed at my publicist and this
jackass journalist. In addition to this, I was receiving threatening calls
from the media saying, “This book better be the real deal and come out
on time! Or we’re going to eat your ass alive!” I told this journalist, “The
media will be kissing my ass and savoring the sweet taste, so pucker up!”

I experienced many games with the media like jockeying for
position against Eminem in a magazine. Reporters would do exclusive
interviews and set publishing dates on the stories only to have material
to obtain an interview with Eminem. Eminem would agree to take the
inter views and that would shut down my story. The magazines never
had intentions of going with my stories. I was just a pawn. However, for
every story that didn’t flourish, another one did. I eventually did over 500
interviews domestic and abroad via the Internet, magazines, radio, and
TV. The media probably hated me more than his fans for publishing the
book. Why? Eminem was the second coming of Elvis. The Great White
Hope! The Golden Boy! Therefore nothing should be said to tarnish his
image, true or false. There were so many double standards for Eminem.
All of a sudden, white people who hated hip-hop were professional music
critics on Eminem and the industry. Please! He could do no wrong. I
searched high and low for book deals only to learn that I was being
blackballed. I never met so many scared professionals in my life. “Oh,
you have a great book, but Marshall might sue us! However, if he dies
tragically we’ll publish it, ” said publishers.

Three months before the book dropped I did a worldwide media
blitz that caused Paul and Slim to pitch an insulting $25,000 offer to buy
me out. Needless to say, I turned them down and offered them several
opportunities at a fair wage: $1,000,000, negotiable. That fee would
compensate me for the worldwide book publishing rights, merchandising,
and film/ video rights. I was willing to negotiate down from my offer, but
they were stuck on $25,000. No deal. Shortly afterward I published the
book independently and sold 1,000 books the first week through selfdistribution. Unfortunately, the demand was so great that it was difficult
to keep up with sales. If I had a publisher, I would have sold at least
100, 000 books that first week. I was getting calls for books worldwide. I
handled the demand fairly well considering the financial circumstances.
My wife, mom and dad, and brother took loans from their 401Ks to help
fund the printing and publicity. I was cashing checks left and right to pay
my attorney, Stephanie Hammonds, my CPA, Kevin Carter, my publicist,
Roger Neal, Onyx Printing, and my assistant, Adam Rogers. I had people
on payroll for eighteen months after the publishing date. I must say, the
book did well for an independent. It did so well that EMINEM released a
songbook titled “Angry Blond” a few months after mine. Needless to say,
fans were disappointed. They were expecting a rebuttal to my book or
a novel. I believe it was published to knock the edge off my book sales,
considering “Shady Bizzness” was the first book EVER published about
him. I eventually sold 10,000 books independently with no publisher and
limited distribution.

I must admit everything wasn’t peachy. There were times when I
wished I had never written the book or ever met Eminem. My life had
become consumed with a one-time friend turned enemy. The book took
on a life of its own, causing emotional trauma. I started to hate the book
as much as I did Eminem. In reality, I hated myself. Why did I write the
book? The book was an outlet to channel my anger and to prevent myself
from possibly serving life in prison.The book was therapy for my thoughts
instead of penal corrections for my possible actions. Several situations
occurred that made me bitter toward the book. The first was the failed
movie offers from some major film houses. These film producers would
make great offers but they couldn’t deliver the royalties or a fair contract.
In other words, their mouths were writing checks their asses couldn’t
sign. Then there was one particular UK publisher whom my attorney
negotiated with for eight months to land a worldwide publishing deal.
The deal entailed publishing “Shady Bizzness” three months before the
release of “8 Mile, ” with a media blitz. Everything was great until three
weeks before the release date when the publisher pulled out of the deal.
I was blown away. This publisher made me jump through so many hoops
that I felt like a dog in the circus. I changed the title of the book. I added
pictures. I deleted material per their attorney, and they still dropped
me! The publisher claimed they were nervous about the controversial
content. However, I did manage to get 50 percent of the signing bonus. I
was devastated. That was a multimillion dollar deal to coincide with the
release of “8 Mile”. I allowed the book to go downhill for one year. I didn’t
promote it or publish another single copy. I said, “I quit! Fuck this book
and fuck Eminem!” It got so bad that my kids would be scared to chant
Eminem songs from the radio. This book toyed with my emotions and
often rekindled the day I left Marshall with guns drawn. Eminem added
fuel to the fire by lying in Blender magazine two years after the book was
published. Blender magazine released this quote from Eminem. “I came
to find out that he was keeping a fucking journal! That was his plan ever
since he met me. I was his shot at fame. After that happened, I didn’t trust
anybody. ”What the hell was he talking about? As I recall, they sought me
out for the job and I orig inally turned them down. As God is my witness
I never kept a journal. If I wanted fame, I would’ve went out like John
Wilkes Booth. Now, there’s your shot at fame. Blender magazine should
be careful whom they call an unethical bodyguard, especially after not
asking for my side of the story.

After a year hiatus from “Shady Bizzness, ” I received a call from
the Jenny Jones Show for an in-studio interview. This was just the spark
I needed to bounce back from my layoff. Little did I know there would
be a series of events to follow. Upon arriving in Chicago for the taping of
the Jenny Jones Show, I received a mystery call. The call was regarding
some one seeking publishing for another Eminem exposé. I immediately
thought that it was a setup for shady dealings. This call came one hour
before taping the Jenny Jones Show. I knew Jenny was going to hit me
from every angle possible, and she did. Little did I know, the show was set
up for me to be the antagonist. This show included Eminem lookalikes,
former coworkers, and his grandma. Before I could sit down, there were
boos and negative remarks from his granny. I kept my composure and
remained standing, posing for the haters in a cream white suit, matching
head to toe. I was killing them softly! When the crowd settled down, I
then sat down. Immediately, Granny stated, “You wanted to harm my
grandson!” And I honestly replied, “Yes, it wasn’t the right thing to do, but
that’s how I felt. So instead of hurting him, I wrote the book!” Then out
of nowhere, Jenny Jones hits me with the Eminem quote from Blender,
which was great. This allowed me to address the lies and make people
understand I never had intentions of writing the book until Slim and Paul
revoked my funds, and the conflict that took place outside his mother-in
law’s home happened. Eventually I won the crowd over, but you’d never
know that by the way they edited the interview. Eminem’s grandma was
a good sport because we conversed during the commercial breaks about
how she missed her grandson. She even pitched a proposal for me to
help her publish her book. I had considered helping her just because of
her struggling financial situation. I could never understand how Eminem
could allow his mom and granny to go without while he lives high on the
hog. It must be a cultural thing. Regardless of whatever happened in the
past, family should live in comfort.

Two days after the Jenny Jones Show I got another mystery call
regarding someone publishing an Eminem book. This particular fellow
called with plenty of anxiety and desperation in his voice, which made me
nervous. Reluctantly I agreed to meet with this guy, but I told him, “This
better not be a setup for a HIT! If so, I’ll shoot you on sight. I’m talking
self-defense. ” He agreed to be strictly about business. We both agreed to
meet in Eastpointe, Michigan, at the Big Boy restaurant. I must say there
were times when this book made me extremely paranoid, and I was my
own bodyguard. There have been times when crazed Eminem fans have
noticed me and rushed me to ask questions but their body language spoke
differently, which caused them to get a rude awakening. One particular
time at the gas station, this guy was pumping gas and noticed me. He
kept aggressively questioning if I was Eminem’s ex-bodyguard. After the
second firm yes, he reached into his car. I then reached into my waistband
and grabbed my gun. The guy turned around abruptly and walked toward
me in a fast-paced manner. Immediately he stopped in his tracks upon
observing the cold piece of steel.Then he says, “Dude I just wanted you to
sign my book. I read your book in one night. It’s the best book I ever read!”
I holstered my firearm, and then graciously apologized and explained my
response to his fanatical behavior.

Now that I agreed to meet this mystery caller about this new Eminem
book, I prepared for the worst. Once again I put on the bulletproof vest,
got my extra clip, loaded the firearm. I contacted backup to stand by in
the event something happened. Some may call it crazy, but I believe in
facing my demons instead of running from them. Upon pulling up in the
parking lot, I cased the area for anything unusual or out of place before
entering.The mystery man and I agreed to meet in front of the restaurant.
I had taken my firearm and placed it in a small handbag in which my hand
could fire the weapon without exposing the gun. Shortly afterwards, as I
stood there, a Puerto Rican/Caucasian male approaches me–the mystery
caller. We entered the building and took a booth in the rear. I sat where
I could see the door and placed my small handbag on the table pointed
right at his chest. Observing the mystery man’s body language and the
way he constantly adjusted, he was armed also. After the first five minutes
we both began to realize it was strictly business. He pitched to me that his
wife was a former friend of Kim Mathers and volunteer nanny for Hailey.
He also suspected that Eminem had slept with his wife. He and his wife
were in the process of filing for divorce due to differences and possible
infidelity. He wanted to publish an exposé about Eminem and Kim as
payback for what had transpired.The only problem was bringing his soonto-be ex-wife on board. He pitched the whole idea about me publishing
the book, and needless to say after reading the draft, I wasn’t going to
risk that. I read that draft several times and contacted the husband with
a counterproposal. I basically proposed to them that I would be their
publicist and distributor of the book. The major problem was that no
one could know I was involved with their book or it would never take
off. Therefore, I took on a Jewish alias, “Silas Bernstein, ” CEO of Urban
Tabloid Marketing and Distribution. Man, it worked like a charm! I then
realized how powerful the Jewish community is in the entertainment and
media.

The mystery man convinced his wife they should remain together
and publish this book. She agreed, and we set a deadline for release of
the book, “Cleaning Out My Closet” by J. R. Watkins. I, Silas Bernstein,
masterminded a plan for the husband to drop the book on Eminem’s
30th birthday, October 17, 2002. The media blitz went off like the Fourth
of July. I sent out press releases worldwide under my alias Silas Bernstein
and the media ate it up! The media is biased, and I proved that through
the media campaign.The media is so quick to believe a Caucasian author’s
story faster than a black author’s story. The same media that accepted and
embraced J. R Watkins’ book, rejected my book. On October 30, 2002,
Q955’s Mojo awakened Eminem on his 30th birthday in the morning
(Detroit, MI). J. R. Watkins exclusively released her story along with
shameless plugs for sales. I sat back and just watched my media blitz
unravel with perfection. My new identity as Mr. Bernstein blazed a trail
from Los Angeles to the UK. Everyone was requesting interviews from
Silas Bernstein’s client, J. R. Watkins. I laughed my ass off! The media
never knew until now. Surprise!!! The same biased media that wouldn’t
give me any reviews were paying us to get J. R. Watkins’ story. And her
story didn’t come cheap. Her book debuted on Amazon. com at #152 out of
one million books. In a matter of two months since meeting, I had showed
J. R. Watkins how to self-publish and promote her own book. My former
experience of self-publishing didn’t come cheap, and therefore I got paid.
Unfortunately, the more money they made, the more they wanted to do my
job and take control of distribution. I’m a businessman, and our contract
had to be honored. We eventually went our separate ways in agreeing to
disagree after selling about 1, 400 books in a matter of eight months. It
was a unique experience and I’m glad I was able to assist them. However,
as business goes, we pulled the book from distributors and media, never
to be seen again.There were bitter times, but the mystery man and I shook
hands and embraced in a hug after I gave them their last royalty check.
We agreed that we should try again in the future. Needless to say, Kim
Mathers wasn’t too happy about the book being published from her exbest friend. The book highlighted Kim’s drug problems, spending sprees,
and Eminem’s love life with Mariah Carey and many other inside stories.